Marine Science Faculty Publications
Analysis of Volunteer Observing Ship Temperature Fields in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1990
Abstract
Volunteer observing ship data collected during the FGGE year in 1979 and data from in situ moorings deployed during the SEQUAL/FOCAL experiment in 1983-1984 are used to estimate the dominant temporal and spatial scales of SST varibility in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Two-dimensional Fourier transforms show that enhanced energy levels in a wave number and frequency band of 1924-1-825-1 cycles/km and 37-1-21-1 cycles/day respectively, are associated with organized SST structures with wave-like oscillations that are consistent with barotropic instabilities. The oscillations appear on the equator between 1°S and 1°N eastward of 25°W shortly after the springtime intensification of the easterly wind stress and persist into August. They are characterized by a westward phase propagation of about -50 cm/s and a pattern that progresses eastward at approximately 30 cm/s.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Oceanologica Acta, v. 13, issue 3, p. 257-264
Scholar Commons Citation
Mayer, D. A.; Molinari, R. L.; and Weisberg, Robert H., "Analysis of Volunteer Observing Ship Temperature Fields in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean" (1990). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 391.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/391
